Tiếng ViệtMany people speak about the “American Dream.”
But for me, I had never once dreamed of going to America.
It felt too distant, too vast… a dream reserved for someone else, certainly not for me – a countryside girl with a very humble background.
In 2024, I submitted a short video to Wine Spectator, where I shared a line that had lived in my heart for years:
“Wine is my passport to the world.”
At the time, that statement was merely metaphorical, a way of expressing how wine had introduced me to extraordinary people and opened doors to places I had learned about long before I had the chance to set foot there. It was still just a dream.
And yet, life has a way of turning metaphors into miracles.
Wine quite literally became the passport that brought me to America.
I found myself on a journey with ten Vietnamese sommeliers whom I deeply admire, along with an exceptional sommelier from Singapore. Our destination was California, the Golden State, a land where countless American dreams first took shape.
California earned its nickname not only from its brilliant sunlight, but also from the Gold Rush of 1848, when hundreds of thousands of fortune seekers from around the world arrived with nothing but hope and determination. That wave of migration transformed a once-quiet land into a symbol of opportunity, diversity, and relentless perseverance.
As I stepped onto California soil for this wine discovery journey, I could feel that legacy everywhere — in the vineyards, in the people, and even in the air.
It is a place rich in history, in ambition, and in inspiration.
A place where each valley carries the echoes of the “gold seekers” who shaped its identity more than a century ago.
California is also the beating heart of American wine: producing 80% of all U.S. wine. If California were an independent nation, it would rank as the fourth-largest wine producer in the world, after Italy, France, and Spain.
We arrived in California during the most beautiful season of the year: autumn.
Harvest had just ended, and the vineyards were turning into magnificent tapestries of red and gold as if the valleys were dressing themselves in celebration.
People often say, “If you want to see the vineyards, go before harvest.”
But the truth is, every season in the vineyard holds its own kind of beauty.
Autumn carries a uniquely emotional charm:
the shifting colors of the leaves,
the crisp air that invites reflection,
and a softness that makes the heart more open, more tender.
It is also the “quiet season” for wineries a time when winemakers finally have a moment to breathe. It is the perfect moment to sit with them, listen to their stories, and understand the soul behind their wines.
Our itinerary led us through California’s most iconic wine regions: Livermore – Lodi – Napa Valley – Sonoma County, before concluding in San Francisco.
Despite the long, two-leg flight of more than ten hours, I could not sleep. Perhaps it was excitement, or perhaps my heart had not fully accepted that I was truly on my way to America.
At San Francisco Airport, Michele was already waiting for us — her warm welcome setting the tone for the journey ahead. While standing outside, waiting for the van, we were greeted by the cool autumn breeze of California.
The sommeliers from Saigon, a city that never knows cold, remarked that the air felt like autumn in Đà Lạt.
For me, it brought back memories of the early northern winters of my hometown, a sensation I had not felt for nearly two years.
To be continued….
